Importance of Payment Gateway Security for a Small Business

Since security is still the number one topic of discussion for online matters in 2011, I thought we would continue the theme for this post. If you have serious concerns about your website’s security, contact the professionals at DCW right away.

Did you know there is a Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS)? If you run a small business online or plan to, then you better know about it! It is what makes transactions on your website, with a card payment, legal. The guidelines have another goal though: to make your website’s payment method secure. Too many small business websites are at great risk of being hacked and their customers’ secure information taken.

What is Payment Gateway Security?

When you are on an e-commerce website and you are looking to pay for your product or service, you will normally see ‘SSL’. It stands for Secure Sockets Layer, which is the security protocol used by an SSL server to transfer data. This protocol is what many payment portals, like Paypal checkout, use to make sure your customers’ credit card numbers are encrypted as they move around as data online.

Why is it so important for your Small Business?

There are a number of ways to better protect your company website from unlawful intrusion. Small businesses can beef up security on their websites by installing a firewall, changing the default passwords on all networking equipment, keeping anti-virus software up-to-date and testing security with regularity.

However, the most important area to protect is the transfer of secure data. If your customer’s payment information is hacked and taken somehow, YOUR BUSINESS will be responsible. That’s right; the storm of anger, notifications and legal action will come down on the head of your online business. The actual disaster that this event will create is enough to shut you down, let alone any coverage it receives through the media.

Having a secure payment gateway is definitely a number one priority for any business, especially for a small business. Without it, you risk the vitality of your company and the safety of your customer’s identification.

What should your Small Business do about it?

Look up web design and development professionals in your area or find a team you can trust to analyze your website’s security. Have them check your code and make sure the payment portal is integrated properly. Let them try to hack into the secure information areas of the website, so they can analyze the level of your current security efforts and their effectiveness.

Working with experienced e-commerce developers is highly recommended. They will surely know the ends and outs of payment gateway security and be able to advise you on the best course of action should your website be lacking in protection.

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